Care, protection and physical appearance of certain rubber, vinyl and similar surfaces is important both to the value and longevity of the products bearing those surfaces. Of particular importance is the care, protection and appearance of vehicle components such as dashboards, door liners, and especially tires. Tires in particular must function under relatively hostile environmental conditions which can include extreme heat, extreme cold, degrading pollutant exposure including ozone, hazardous road conditions, and the like. Because of these ambient conditions, vehicle owners who take pride in the overall appearance of their vehicles must regularly attend to maintenance of that appearance.
Present vehicle care products available for lustering and protecting rubber, vinyl, and similar surfaces generally are compositions of a silicon-emulsion and silicon-oil blend in combination with a petroleum distillate solvent and chloride or fluoride carrier for application to the surface to be protected. While surface appearance immediately after application of prior art compositions is usually acceptable, appearance quality can diminish relatively quickly and leave blotches, streaks and an otherwise dull surface.
In view of the behavior of the above-discussed vehicle care products, it is apparent that a need is present for a lustering and protecting composition for rubber, vinyl, and similar surfaces where both appearance and protection is retained for a longer period of time. Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a composition for lustering and protecting a surface such as a sidewall of a vehicle tire wherein the components of the composition include a high molecular weight polysiloxane and preferably a low molecular weight linear and/or cyclic polysiloxane to thereby achieve greater longevity and uniformity on a surface upon which the composition is applied.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a composition for lustering and protecting a rubber, vinyl or similar surface wherein the composition contains no petroleum distillate solvent.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent throughout the description which now follows.